


Gift of the Valley

by kayn



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Depression, Drinking, Eventual Romance, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, References to Depression, eventual smut probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 07:53:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13700151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayn/pseuds/kayn
Summary: After years of living under her parent's scrutiny, Ciara has decided to leave their big-city wine business to reclaim her grandfather's old vineyard and start a life of her own. She's eager to return to the place that created so many of her happy childhood memories, but she's not as prepared for the old scars it will re-open.





	1. Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> stick around if you wanna see two sad kids fall in love and learn how to be happy together i guess¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ lots of impending angst and fluff, and possibly smut idk we'll see when we get there
> 
> lemme know if you know if you want to see farmer/Leah in other stuff I'd be happy to write some one-shots and drabbles and such

Ciara could clearly remember the last time she had been in Stardew Valley. Nine, almost ten years it had been now since that cold, rainy funeral. She’d cried for weeks after she watched them lower her grandfather into the ground. It didn’t seem real then, and it still felt like some foggy memory from a dream even now. The only tangible evidence that it had ever happened was a mossy gravestone, a few easily concealed scars, and some old hospital discharge papers.

It was sort of bizarre, driving down the narrow freeway now, sun shining brightly, lush green trees and wildflowers on either side of her. The windows were rolled down and the warm breeze gently tossed her hair around the cab. Every few minutes she ran her hand back through her long seafoam colored locks in a futile attempt to keep it out of her face. Upbeat indie music poured out of the speakers, and she sang along loudly without a care in the world.

She’d come a long way in ten years.

Still, as she flew down the freeway, smile on her face as she belted along with the radio, butterflies were growing in the pit of her stomach. The vineyard had been out of commission since her grandfather passed away, and was undoubtedly going to look like something out of a nightmare. This wasn’t going to be an easy summer for sure - pulling weeds, cutting vines, tilling the soil - but she had to think positive thoughts. 

She was finally moving out on her own, getting away from her smothering parents and the hectic life of the east coast cities. No more big, crowded, constantly booked vineyards. No more rich snobs she had to schmooze up to. Just a quiet life on a quiet farm in a quiet town.

Okay, well maybe not that quiet. She still had plans of course, to revitalize the old fields that had started her family off on the winemaking path. There was a house to renovate and make her own, and a whole new bunch of people to get to know. She breathed in deeply through her nose and let it all out in a big sigh, smiling to herself. 

It didn’t at all feel like she was moving somewhere completely alien and new. It felt like she was coming home.


	2. Welcoming Party

A warm feeling washed over her as she pulled up the rocky drive, coming up on the big old metal gate with the elegantly gilt words Baudelair Farms. “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry,” she whispered to herself reassuringly as she drove through the gates, the big white farmhouse coming into view over the slight crest of the tiny hill and the overgrown lawn. She sniffed a little, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand to get rid of the burning tears threatening to spill over. 

She let out a small laugh as she pulled up in front of the house, which somehow still looked just as she remembered it. The paint was peeling off everywhere, and her papa’s old rocking chair sat just to the right of the open screen door, rocking slowly in the breeze. The windows had all been opened and she could see the white lace curtains swaying just behind the glass panes.

The only difference was the two cars parked on the lawn, and the horse grazing off to the side of the porch. Ciara inhaled sharply as she put the car in park, and turned off the ignition. Alright, here we go. This is it, it’s happening.

She undid her seatbelt and curled her fingers around the handle of the door, pulling gently on it before pushing the door open. Her boots hit the driveway with a satisfying crunch as the gravel shifted beneath her weight. She swayed a bit as she stood there, gripping the door to steady herself as the toll of her long drive hit her suddenly.

After a moment of collecting herself, she closed her driver’s side door and started making her way around to the porch. Before she had even gotten around the front of her car, the screen door swung open and out came a small welcoming party. The first person out the door was a tall olive-skinned brunette, her big brown eyes glistening as she bounded down the porch steps and across the driveway to Ciara. A huge grin was plastered across her face and she let out an ungodly girlish squeal as she approached her old friend with open arms.

“Hey girl! You made it,” she let out a hearty laugh as she wrapped Ciara into a huge bear hug. Mikayla was much taller than she had been when they were kids, and still had a few healthy inches on Ciara. Her arms were shredded like a lumberjack’s and her skin was slightly darker as a result of years of farmwork.

Ciara laughed, ecstatic as she wrapped her arms beneath Mikayla’s, her neck stretched as far as she could manage so that her chin rested on her shoulder. “I made it!” she confirmed, and the two laughed again, a warm, clear sound like bells that echoed through the fields around them and vibrated through both their rib cages.

“I still can’t believe you’re here!” The brunette chimed, and though Ciara couldn’t see her face, she could hear Mikayla’s smile clearly through her voice. “I’m so glad you decided to come back, it’s going to be so great having you around again.”

Ciara laughed again, her eyes starting to water. She sniffled softly and grinned, “Believe me, you have no idea how glad I am to be back.” The two both chuckled again softly, pulling apart from their embrace to see that the other also had tears in their eyes.

They hadn’t seen each other since both of their grandfathers had passed away, each within just a few years of the other. They would come and stay in the Valley for whole summers, and even over some school holidays. They had trampled a footpath through the woods and fields of their grandfather’s abutting farms that seemed to stay just as worn down no matter how long it had been since their last visit. The two had been inseparable as young girls; where there was one the other was never far behind. They’d pick fruits and berries off their grandfather’s crops, run around the forest looking for fairies and elves, spend the hottest days laying around on the beach and splashing in the waves.

They were fifteen when Mikayla’s grandfather passed, and it was only two years later that Ciara’s papa had followed. Just like the two old men, the girls had been best friends. Even after the summer trips to the Valley stopped, they’d stayed in touch by letters and sporadic phone calls, then eventually through email and social media. They weren’t in constant contact like they had been as girls, but their bond was still as solid as it had ever been. More than a decade later and they could still pick up right where they had left off, as though it had been no more than a year since they saw each other that last summer.

As they released themselves from their embrace, laughing as they wiped hot tears from their eyes, they became aware of the fact that they were not alone. Mikayla smiled, placing a hand on Ciara’s arm as she turned back to face the house, where an older man and a young woman with bright red hair came down the porch steps towards them.

“Right, sorry I almost forgot. Ciara, this is Robin,” Mikayla gestured towards the ginger woman, who smiled warmly and nodded in response, “and Mayor Lewis, I’m sure you remember him.”

Ciara smiled as she reached out and shook each of their excited hands. “Of course, how could I forget?” She chimed, and the old man chuckled - he’d been a fairly regular visitor to her papa’s house. The two men had been close friends, along with Mikayla’s grandfather; they had grown up together in the Valley and stayed together till the end.

“Well, it has been a while since you were back here. I could hardly recognize you myself, you’ve certainly grown up,” he replied warmly, and lightheartedly gestured towards her brightly colored hair.

She grinned and chuckled, and was stopped as Lewis turned to the woman next to him. “Robin here’s the best carpenter in town, she’s been helping us fix a few things up around the old house so it would be ready when you got here.”

“It’s my pleasure, really,” her eyes sparkled as she grinned at Ciara. “Besides, it’s almost like a bit of free advertisement, isn’t it? You get to enjoy squeak-less floorboards and stairs your foot won’t go through and then think to yourself, “Wow, that Robin sure knows what she’s doing! Maybe I should pay her to do more handiwork for me”,” Robin chuckled heartily as Lewis scoffed at her, nudging her harshly in the arm.

“Robin-” he scolded, but was cut off by more of the carpenter’s laughter, along with Mikayla’s, and soon Ciara was chuckling with them as well. The old man sighed, trying hard to keep a smile from creeping onto his face.

Lewis cleared his throat pointedly. “Well, in any case, I hope the farmhouse is to your liking. It’s a bit old of course, but we’ve gone through and dusted and swept everything, made sure the utilities are all working and that sort of thing.” Lewis reached into his pocket and pulled out a small set of house keys, which he held out to Ciara. “It’s all yours now.”

Ciara felt like she was going to explode with excitement as she reached out and Lewis dropped the little ring of cold metal into her palm. She held the keys close to her, fiddling with them like a small child in awe of their parent’s shiny belongings.

“There’s one for the front door, the back door, and the storage barn. I left the keys for the winery and cellars on the kitchen counter. We haven’t been down that way yet, so sadly I can’t speak to its condition. But if you need help with anything, don’t be afraid to ask us or the other folks in town. We’d all be happy to lend a hand,” Lewis said with a smile. “But I’m sure you’re ready to get settled, so we’ll leave you to it.”

The two said their goodbyes before getting in their cars and driving off, leaving the two farmers behind in the light dust kicked up from the driveway. Mikayla turned to Ciara with a smile.

“Alright, let’s get that car of yours unpacked,” she clapped her hands together eagerly as she set off to begin grabbing heavy boxes out of the back seat.


	3. Valley Lullaby

It took them a few hours before they had gotten everything out of the big SUV. They had dragged all of the boxes into the rooms they had been labeled for, and hastily unpacked a few of the vital essentials.

The house really wasn’t in that bad shape, considering it had been left abandoned for nearly a decade. The wallpaper was discolored and peeling considerably, and the floorboards could certainly do with a good sanding and a new coat of stain and poly. The paintings on the wall were a bit off-center, but they didn’t look worn or yellowed. All of the furniture had been covered with old white sheets, as though the family had known that the abandonment was only temporary and that someday it would need to be prepared for its new inhabitants.

Still, the whole place was rather barren. Ciara vaguely remembered her mother and aunt packing up all the picture frames, knick-knacks, dishware, and just about every other belonging her grandfather had had into unremarkable cardboard boxes like the ones she had just dragged in. Where had all that stuff gone? The attic or the basement probably, either of which would make it incredibly inconvenient to haul back to the main floor.

After dragging all the sheets off the furniture in the main rooms of the house, the two settled down in the living room. Ciara flopped down into the couch with an audible groan of relief, her sore limbs sprawled out in every which way. Mikayla chuckled as she went to the kitchen table, opening a small cooler she had brought with her, which she reached into and produced two icey cans of beer.

The sun had started to go down and the heat was tolerable now, especially with the gentle breeze blowing into the house through the all the open windows. And while Ciara had been assured that the air conditioning was working just fine, neither of the girls had wanted to cease their conversations long enough to wander off to find out. Still, they had worked up a sweat in their efforts.

Mikayla sat down with a heavy thud next to Ciara, reaching an arm out to hand her a beer. Ciara smiled, struggling to sit up enough to grasp the can. She let out a small pained noise as her abdominal muscles fought against her, and Mikayla chuckled.

“Man, are you really  _ that _ out of shape?” she jabbed playfully, reaching further to put the can within Ciara’s grasp. Ciara rolled her eyes, grinning a little as she took the beer in her hand. She popped the tab open and the can let out a satisfying  _ hiss _ before she placed it to her lips and took a long swig. It certainly wasn’t her favorite drink, but the cool carbonated liquid felt more than amazing going down.

“Oh, come on, like you aren’t just a bit sore after all that?” Ciara remarked back, and Mikayla chuckled into her beer as she shrugged.

“I guess you could say I’ve built up a tolerance for physical labor and the pains that follow,” she said, stretching her neck and arms as she let herself settle down into the couch.

“You can say that again,” Ciara said with a chuckle, flexing her arms pathetically at Mikayla. “I mean look at you, I bet you could bench press me.”

Mikayla gave her a little grin as she shrugged proudly, “Yeaah, probably.”

Their laughter filled the house for the next few hours as they sat on that old couch, sharing stories from the past few years and discussing the life they now shared as farmers. Eventually, Mikayla pulled her phone out from her back pocket, letting out a little sigh before looking back up to Ciara with a sheepish smile on her face.

“Well, I should get going. I didn’t plan on being here this long, and Leah’s been hounding me about when I’ll be back for dinner. I should probably get home before she goes off looking for me,” She quirked a brow playfully as she stood up off the couch with a groan. “Man, I forgot how squishy that thing is. It’s like it just absorbs you.”

Ciara chuckled as she rested her head on her head, arm propped up on the back of the couch as she watched Mikayla slip her boots back on.

“I’d invite you over, but I didn’t give Leah any notice ahead of time,” she apologized sincerely.

Ciara waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it, you’ve done more than enough for me already today.”

Mikayla gave her a small smile as she adjusted her pants over her boots. “Still, we’ll have to have you over some time soon. We’ll do lunch or dinner or something. I know Leah’s excited to meet you.”

Ciara gave her a sleepy smile. “I look forward to meeting her too. I’ll keep in touch, just let me know when you want me over.”

“Will do,” Mikayla shot finger guns at her as she made her way out the door. They gave each other a little wave, and with that the house was silent.

Ciara sighed as she looked around. They hadn’t turned the lights on since the sun had been enough to illuminate the house, but now that the sun was setting, it was rather gloomy inside. Ciara twisted her mouth up as she realized she would have to pry herself up out of the couch.

It took a great deal of effort, and a couple of unseemly whingeing noises, but she eventually managed to heave herself up onto her feet. She placed her hands on her hips as she stretched, arching her back and rolling her head, resulting in multiple satisfying pops and cracks.

She walked across the room to the front door and flicked the lightswitch on, and the bulbs in the ceiling lights buzzed to life. Well, she at least had electricity. She had been ensured that the water was running properly, and that the water heater in the basement had been repaired and updated, along with the furnace and central air. She located the thermostat in the hallway adjoining the living room, and after a moment of fiddling the AC whirred to life.

Still, there was the issue of appliances. Mikayla had said that the refrigerator had completely shat the bed, and Ciara was afraid to even attempt at using the stove, which she knew was older than her mother. She had money saved up, so she could have appliances delivered from the city. But then there was the issue of the phones and cable, and the fact that wifi hadn’t existed when her grandfather passed, and he hadn’t ever attempted to use computers or the internet.

Issues for another day, she supposed. Right now, her stomach was starting to grumble at her, and she had to focus on finding something to eat. She’d brought snacks for the road trip, but that was all. She’d meant to stop by the general store after arriving to pick up some things, but had gotten completely distracted with catching up with Mikayla.

Where was that sheet of paper Mikayla had left her?

After a moment of looking around the kitchen, she found the little notebook page sitting on the counter by the set of keys for the winery. On it, Mikayla had scribbled down the hours of all the local places, along with other useful inspiration.

  * _Pierre’s General Store, 9:00am-5:00pm, closed on saturdays_
  * _Stardrop Salloon, 12:00pm-12:00am. For a quick meal you can call in a pizza and pick it up. That’s the closest you’ll get to fast food or delivery around here. 202-555-4193_
  * _Clinic, 9:00am-3:00pm. If it’s an emergency just call Harvey, he’s the only doctor in town and he runs the place. Next best thing to a hospital for miles around. 202-555-0168_
  * _Robin, carpenter, north of town, 9:00am-5:00pm, closed tuesdays and sometimes closes shop early. Good for anything from handiwork to building whole goddamn barns and silos. (Seriously, she built almost everything on my land) 202-555-8793_
  * _Marnie, rancher, sells livestock and everything you need to keep them alive. 9:00am-4:00pm, closed mondays and tuesdays. She’s also an absolute angel, go pay her a visit and introduce yourself. She’s just outside of town to the east on the edge of Cindersnap Forest._
  * _Clint, blacksmith, 9:00am-4:00pm, closed fridays. If you need tools or upgrades, he’s your man._
  * _Me, of course. You know where to find me, available 24/7. 202-555-2047 (if you forgot somehow)_



Ciara let out a huff as she leaned against the kitchen counter, head rested heavily on her hand. Well, so much for getting to the store today. She’d have to go in the morning. And she really didn’t feel like diving right into the local bar scene, especially after a long day of driving and hauling boxes around.

She’d just have to settle with car snacks.

She shuffled her way down the hallway, passing the bathroom on her left before coming to the master bedroom. She flicked on the lightswitch, and the fan overhead started spinning, illuminating the room and also giving off a nice breeze.

The floor was covered in boxes, most of which were labelled “ _ clothes” _ , “ _ clothes _ ”, and shockingly, more “ _ clothes _ ”. Somewhere one of these boxes should’ve had “ _ linens _ ” hastily scrawled across it. Naturally, it took her about fifteen years of searching (though realistically it had probably only been four minutes) before she finally found it. She quickly made up the bed, then headed into the bathroom for an equally quick shower.

After cleaning up, Ciara managed to find some suitable pajamas amongst the many boxes. She plopped down onto the bed, which produced a series of irritating squeaks as the springs resisted her weight. _ Note to self- get bed shipped from home. _

She spent a few hours lounging in bed watching old box sets on her laptop, lazily snacking on potato chips, cookies and trail mix. Soon enough the sun was fully set, and the chirps of crickets and kadydids flowed through the open window. The breeze flowed lightly around the room, rustling the lace curtains and carrying in the far-off sounds of peeper frogs. The sounds of the valley summer night were like an old lullaby, and soon she was drifting off to sleep in the only place in this world that truly felt like home.


End file.
